This is a question to the blog clinic from Peter who is a tenant.
We informed our landlord about the broken boiler immediately.
Ten days later with no hot water or heating (early March. Freezing temps overnight. 5 year old child), we requested compensation if we were to move to a hotel, or a rent reduction equivalent to the time taken to fix it.
We were given notice of eviction by reply…. Where do we stand?
Answer
This is a classic example of ‘retaliatory eviction’ where a landlord evicts a tenant because they ask for repair work to be done.
Your rights depend on when your tenancy started or was last renewed.
If this was on or after 1 October 2015
Go to your Local Authority and explain the situation to them.
If they can get a Local Authority Environmental Health Officer out there to do a Housing Health and Safety Rating System inspection and if they then issue an improvement notice on your landlord – this will invalidate the section 21 notice. Your landlord will not be able to serve another one for six months.
If it was before 1 October 2015
Assuming the section 21 notice is valid, there is not a lot you can do about it other than find somewhere else to live.
The bad news
Even if you come into the first category, the law does not stop your landlord evicting you forever. Just for six months.
The good news
Even if your landlord is entitled to evict you it will take some time. The notice is two months and then the eviction process normally takes about three to six months. So you have a bit of time. Don’t move out – unless you have found somewhere else permanent to live.
It is also very probable that the notice is invalid – check to make sure that your tenancy deposit was properly protected and the prescribed information properly served on you. For tenancies which started or were renewed on or after 1 October 2015 under the new rules your landlord also needs to have served an EPC, Gas Safety Certificate and the governments ‘How to Rent’ booklet on you.
If you are evicted you will be eligible for Council re-housing – as you have a child you will fall into the category of ‘priority need’.
Financial compensation
Note that you will also have a financial claim against your landlord for compensation for his breach of his statutory repairing obligations and this claim will last for six years even if he evicts you.
It’s not easy bringing this sort of claim and your landlord sounds like the sort of person who will avoid making any payment even if a court finds against him. However, even so, it’s a good idea keep evidence of the problems and start keeping a diary.
Summary of advice
I suggest you get round to your Local Authority housing advice service pronto and have a word with them.
If you are lucky enough to have a Law Centre nearby – make an appointment to see an adviser there as they will be able to advise you in more detail and represent you in any court claim.
Otherwise may also want to speak to your MP about this, particularly if the Council appear unwilling to help you. You will also find 15 places where you can get free help here.
Has the landlord breached the statutory repair obligations?
Ten days is pushing it a bit but is it unreasonable?
Despite the advertising claims by national plumbing chains, good plumbers aren’t sat round waiting for work.
For example,
Boiler breaks down late Saturday night. Day one.
Plumber appointment arranged for first thing Monday morning.
Boiler beyond repair, not a straightforward quick replacement, needs repositioning and parts ordering. Plumber prices it up and quotes £2500 the next day but very busy and can’t give a firm guarantee he/she can do it quickly.
Another plumber calls the next day on the Wednesday and quotes the same price but not so busy and completes it all on the Monday. Total time ten days.
Is that unreasonable? Should there be any entitlement to compensation?
I’d also be surprised they had no heating for more than a couple of days. Did neither the tenant, landlord or plumber think of using electric heaters?
Was the notice for eviction under Section 8 or Section 21?
This attitude is why I think the rental sector in this country is in dire need of reform.
If your phone line went down for 10 days, would you expect to be billed for it, even if BT moaned that they couldn’t find a 3rd party to dig up the pavement for 10 days?
As a renter, I’m a paying customer paying for a service, namely a functioning home. Anything less, there should be a strong but fair incentive for the landlord to resolve it. It also means that the landlord might choose to replace that aging boiler mid-August rather than wait for it to give up the ghost come December.
That is a fair point actually.
Even in my own home (which I own) it took around 10 days to get a heating/hot water issue resolved. First they had to order parts which took a few days. That didn’t work, so they had to order and fit a new boiler.
I guess it really depends on the situation. If the landlord has totally ignored the tenant for 10 days and then sent someone to resolve the issue, I think the tenant is entitled to be upset.
But if the landlord had been actively trying to get it resolved in that 10 day period, I think it would be unfair for the tenant to bring a claim against the landlord.
It can be quite frustrating with boiler issues, as often it is something as simple as the pressure which is very easy to resolve. We actually demonstrate how to sort the pressure and bleed the radiators when a tenant moves in (as this is a useful skill to learn anyway) to try and keep the landlord’s costs down a bit, but it doesn’t really make much difference as they seldom understand and we still have to send a plumber out.
As far as electric heaters are concerned, my experience is that most tenants refuse to help themselves as ‘it’s not their responsibility’. It is ultimately the landlord’s responsibility to provide heating and so they will expect the landlord to provide it for them.
It’s a shame that there is always such a battle over who is responsible over every single little thing. When I was a tenant, if i could fix it, I did. If I had no heating I got a heater while it was repaired. I just got on with it because it was my home and I was happy to pay towards it’s upkeep. But I appreciate that most tenants will not take this attitude (and I suppose why should they? due to Section 11 of LL & TT Act).
The law is the law I guess, I just wish people would show a bit more willing and help themselves once in a while (major issues excluded of course).
It tenets wanted to do it all themselves they would buy a place and do it all themselves. Then we wouldn’t get paid be careful what you wish for
Good luck changing the law Mat but until then, provided a landlord repairs within a reasonable timeframe, you don’t get no compunsashun.
You’re not hiring a hotel room.
Ten days might be pushing it a bit as I said, but it might be reasonable under certain situations.
And I bet if you ever own your own home, you don’t say;
“Right luv, lets change that aging boiler for £2500 just in case it might save us a few days of minor inconvenience in the winter”.
Had to laugh about moaning about the phone line being down for ten days, it wouldn’t even occur to me to complain. I’d just use my mobile or office and get on with it. Different attitudes I suppose.